AJ Feuerman

Publicist | Social Media Strategist | Brunch Fanatic

Friday Favorites – All Animals, All The Time

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I’m not even gonna blow smoke up your you-know-what cause this week SUCKED. So today, please know this entire “Friday Favorites” post will spotlight ten of my favorite cute, celebrity dog accounts to follow on Instagram. I follow more animals than people and I’m not ashamed. I smile the most when I’m scrolling through my Insta. When a live feed comes up and some nice lady is teaching her Corgi how to do tricks? My day is friggin’ made.

Friday Favorites - All Animals, All The Time

This post was incredibly hard to draft. I follow a lot of cute animals on Instagram. Like, I feel kind of guilty that I didn’t get all of them on here.

1. @mabel.the.frenchie

She’s a cutie. I mean, just look at that tush. That face. I’m in love.

2. @graysontheKleeKai

I’d never even heard of an Alaskan Klee Kai before. Now I want one. And THOSE EYES!

3. @lacorgi

Geordi is one cute, stubby-legged fluff. Dem buns! I love corgi buns.

4. @LifeWithMalamutes

Phil and Niko are real characters. They also have a kitten sibling named Milo. You may know Phil from his famous Tinder profile.

5. @YogitheCityBear

I AM OBSESSED. Yogi Bear has the sweetest face!!!

6. @GoogletheGolden

First of all, Google is such a cute name for a dog, right? I have a massive soft spot for Golden Retrievers.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZlPq8mlNCo/?hl=en&taken-by=googlethegolden

7. @bob_marley_Goldenretriever

Speaking of, these guys were the first “celebrity” dogs I ever followed. Bob and Marley live in Brazil with many other pets and have the BEST life.

8. @Norbertthedog

Fun facts. Norbert loves to give high-fives and is a very popular amongst the hospital patients he visits so he was invited to appear on Hallmark Home & Family. Some time thereafter, his owner married the show’s co-host, Mark Steines!

9. @Popeyethefoodie

Mostly I am just jealous of Popeye’s job.

10. @DailyDougie

I adore his scrunched up little face!

BONUS! @Blackjaguarwhitetiger

Kudos to my mom for finding this account. This foundation, based in Mexico, rescues all kinds of amazing animals and houses more than 240 large felines.

If you’ve smiled at all or felt good whilst perusing this post, then my work here is done.

What is your “Ultimate Day?”

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Here I go thinking about myself again and loving it.

Well, let me hear it — what is your Ultimate Day? What does your Ultimate Day look like? When someone in my office announced she was having her “ultimate day,” I was confused but I finally came to see it’s value and understand it’s magic. She would plan a day of her favorite activities, no matter where it took her around town, and invite good friends to join her. And in doing so, creating a day filled with inescapable joy, surrounded by people you care about sharing in that feeling, it would be the Ultimate Day.

It’s the most, isn’t it? This is really my idea of heaven. This is a birthday party for no reason. A unique “stay-cation” with your loved ones. The ultimate field trip.

The great news is that you HAVE people to share this with, RIGHT? And that’s the ultimate, too!

And I’ve become rather obsessed with the idea. I’ve spent quantifiable time thinking about what my ultimate day would include. I keep changing my mind but it’s coming along.

Here is what I have so far:

  • NO DRIVING. There will be much Ubering and/or Lyfting for my day. Or a generous friend is welcome to chauffeur my places. But I will not succumb to looking for parking, scouring neighborhoods for street space or paying for overpriced valets who also get tips.
  • BRUNCH. Obviously. Probably at Church Key but maybe at Cliff’s Edge. I’ve been wavering on this decision.
  • PUPPIES. Are you surprised? Maybe I’d check out the new Dog Cafe although I’m not sure I’d be able to walk away from an adoption station with my emotions in tact.
  • SHOPPING. Not an extensive shopping trip, mind you. I don’t need to comb the mall. I’d rather find one unique store and go buy myself something unique. I love a store that serves up some quality browsing and then you find that GEM you MUST HAVE that you didn’t know you needed….! Perhaps Vroman’s or the strip of shops in Tujunga Village.
  • SNACK BREAK. Perhaps at my favorite coffee shop (which is in Tujunga Village, by the way) or a trip to get frozen yogurt.
  • A MOVIE. Hopefully one with Tom Hardy, Chris Evans, Colin Farrell or Chris Pine. This does not have to happen in a movie theater but if it happens at home, I am watching in my pajamas with the A/C on, under lots of blankets.

What is your ultimate day?

And that’s about all I can come up with so far. There are extraneous, optional items I would throw in if time allowed like a drive down PCH, wine tasting or popping into a museum.

But here’s the thing, I still feel like this day is lacking something really unique. Something with…. OOMPH. But maybe that’s the point? Maybe it’s supposed to be simple? Maybe what’s missing is some way to better incorporate the thoughts, feelings and ideas of my friends?

(Also, I think this day costs too much money but that’s the story of my life, right?)

Anyway, I’m going to keep thinking about it and I’ll let you know. I think it’s a lovely concept and do not be surprised if you see a follow up post packed with goofy selfies of me and my best friends annoying the quiet shoppers in a bookstore sometime soon.

And in the comments — I mean it —  tell me: What is your Ultimate Day?

What is your ultimate day?

 

What’s In My Pocket Friday

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Best of the web — and in the world

Best of the web? Yes. Best of the world? That, also. I reached a tipping point this week when I was watching some ass-clown I refuse to reference by name at a white supremacist meeting (Call it what you want, National Policy Institute) give a speech that essentially set civil rights and basic, human ethics back 100 years. The next day I watched another bigot announce to his “conservative” brothers and sisters that they needed to boycott Target because of their extreme leftist policies — you know, the ones that embrace diversity and compassion. (And by the by, I am filled with warmth seeing how many people liked and shared this tweet yesterday and today. Keep up the good work!)

I realized that today, tomorrow and in the days following, I need to keep my focus on some of the good in the world because there is plenty of it left, no matter how the news makes us feel. So please know that while I am still filled with the fire of a thousand suns, in this little pocket of the universe, in this moment, there is only goodness and warmth.

What's In My Pocket Friday

  • Take a moment and watch just a little of the ceremony held at The WHite House this week wherein President Obama gave out 21 Presidential Medals of Freedom. President Obama has given out more of these Medals than any other President in our history.

What's In My Pocket Friday - Best of the Web

  • You may not recall, but three years ago, President George H.W. Bush shaved his head in solidarity with a young boy, Patrick, who was battling Leukemia. Now three years later, former President Bush has let everyone know on Twitter that Patrick is better!
  • Michael J. Fox joined Dave Matthews on stage at a recent show to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research… and banged out an impressive guitar solo:

  • Meet Ed Moseley, an 86-year-old grandfather in Georgia, who doesn’t believe you are ever too old to learn something new. He recently taught himself to knit so he could make caps for premature newborns.
  • Get ready for pure, complete joy. This mom surprised her children with a puppy adoption.

And if that doesn’t do it, more goodness…

  • COMEDY IS GOOD! Putting some good old-fashioned pragmatism to work here, I realized that if I need a laugh, I just need to watch something funny, right? I’ve been watching the hell out of comedy specials on Netflix. John Mulaney’s is my favorite.

  • MUSIC IS GOOD! Especially holiday music. I do recognize that first, it’s early, and second, some people are not the type to listen to this music too much nor too often, but for me, bring it. It cheers me right up. I create a playlist for holiday music every year on Spotify and working on the playlist alone brings a smile to my face.
  • PUPPIES ARE GOOD! Kittens are also welcome. Please see BUZZFEED ANIMALS for all the cuteness you will ever need and more. I subscribe to their “puppy a day” newsletter and I love to read this page for a pick-me-up. Like this story about “Quantico” star Priyanka Chopra who liked the puppies at her Buzzfeed photoshoot so much, she just adopted one of them on the spot.

Just to be clear, I’m not trying to diminish how messed up things are right now. Because they are. And I promise I will not sit idly by and do nothing about it. Sometimes I get indescribably furious and sometimes I just cry. But most of the time, I allow what I am feeling to empower and inspire me. Here is a good site that may do the same for you (but if you don’t like curse words, stay away). I admire my strong friends who are taking a big stand and have jumped full-throttle into activism (read this – GO MEGHAN!). But for these few minutes spent writing (and for you, reading) this post, everything was positive — I think it’s important we remember things like these are happening. Now more than ever.

What’s In My Pocket Friday

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What’s In My Pocket, Friday? The best of…. something.

This was meant for Friday, but I did not have the will to finish it on Friday. Today I decided I needed it.

While I’ve not posted here or in my other blog in a rather embarrassing amount of time, it suddenly seemed important to me to put something out into the world that wasn’t… dark. I’m overwhelmingly sickened by the state of the world right now and if you thought I was laughing before, I’m downright hysterical now.

So here are things I’ve saved in my “pocket” that, hopefully, will make us all feel a little better — even if only for a short while.

What's In My Pocket Friday

If you don’t know who Justin Tranter is, you probably know his music. He’s responsible for Gwen Stefani’s new album, most of Selena Gomez’s, a lot of Britney, a lot of Bieber… I know Justin because we share a mutual friend dating back to college when we saw him play with his band, Semi Precious Weapons, at the coffee shop at the Virgin Megastore in Union Square. (His former bassist, Cole Whittle, now plays for DNCE.)

Anyway, the day after a gunman killed 49 people and wounded 53 at Pulse in Orlando last month, Justin got on a plane. He lent a hand wherever he could but he wanted to do more. The result is “Hands,” a track released earlier this week that features Selena Gomez, Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Gwen Stefani, Mary J. Blige, Pink, Juanes, Kacey Musgraves, Adam Lambert and many more. Proceeds from the song, available exclusively on iTunes, will benefit Equality Florida, the GLBT Community Center of Central Florida and Glaad.

Similarly, the Broadway community came together on an episode of “Maya and Marty” to sing their iTunes single for charity. It’s rather beautiful:

Music brings me a lot of peace and joy. So do puppies. My friend Lisa got a new puppy and I love each and every photo she shares of her on Instagram. And since I absolutely refuse to sit on the internet all day reading the news at this point, I choose to have the puppy cam on.

This post on Facebook made me laugh:

 And I thought this video Rufus Wainwright posted on Facebook was beautiful:

If you just need a good, great, gut-busting laugh? Well then you should click over to Buzzfeed for some hilarious tweets about kids!

 

This quote also struck me as rather serene and I wanted to conclude with it:

What's In My Pocket Friday

These Are My Obsessions

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When I saw this in Stephanie’s blog, Not Entirely Perfect, I thought it was so much fun… So I’m stealing it! (Thank you, Stephanie.)

It’s easy, if not common, to tell people you are obsessed with something, right? But what would your friends say you’re obsessed with? If you think you can predict what they’d say, think again!

So I polled a dozen randomly selected friends and what began as kind of a vanity thing ended up being a rather valuable learning experience — but I’ll get to that at the end.

12/12: BRUNCH or FOOD. Most said brunch. I cannot dispute this. I do love my brunches. Not a week goes by these days when someone doesn’t ask me for a recommendation. I always take the ask seriously and send back options. I believe in brunch choices.

10/12: HOT GUYS. A few people mentioned specific hot guys such as Tom Hardy, Matt Bomer or “Shirtless Zac Efron.” Which is accurate across the board. (Frankly, with a shirt on, Zefron is useless to me) I’m not ashamed to admit I enjoy a handsome man.

10/12: PUPPIES. Yes, I have a problem. One time I was in a shop with friends. A very attractive, single man walked by outside and everyone turned to watch him through the store window. I was looking at the dog he was walking. No one was surprised. Priorities, people.

These are my obsessions

8/12: KINGS (HOCKEY). It’s funny cause I would never call myself obsessed with hockey but I do like it a ton. I grew up in a “hockey family” so I’ve just always loved it. I have become even more fond of it as more of my friends have become fans, though, and we’ve started to watch and attend games together. I used to prefer to watch alone – I have no idea why now.

8/12: SOCIAL MEDIA/TECHNOLOGY. I don’t really know about that but let me look into it on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Quora, Venture Beat, Gadget Review — or something like that and circle back with you later. (One friend said “earphones” which I could have bunched in here. It’s very true — I do love them.)

7/12: VODKA. No comment. But pass the bottle

7/12: STAR TREK. Yes, for sure, although to be clear, I prefer “The Next Generation” franchise above all others. I enjoyed the first JJ Abrams reboot but hated “Into Darkness.”

These are my obessions

6/12: MUSICALS. At my elementary school, each grade was responsible for putting on a musical in their designated month. It’s not that they were having us put on “Oklahoma” or “West Side Story,” mind you. I went to a Jewish private school and the musicals were usually historical or biblical stories with songs written by our music teacher. But that was a huge part of my childhood. I don’t think I couldn’t be obsessed with musicals.

6/12: TELEVISION. Some qualified this as “Netflix” but the general consensus is that I am obsessed with TV. I don’t think I am as much as I used to be, but I do love it a lot.

Some things only one or two people came back with: X-Men or Marvel, boy bands, designer handbags, concerts, wearing black, Yankees, Sharknado and Starbucks.

KEY LEARNINGS

Because I hinge toward insecurity more often than not, I have this weird, ingrained belief that no one really knows me. In the same way a 14 year old might shout at their parents “YOU DON’T KNOW THE REAL ME!” It’s not a judgement against my friends — it’s derived from the fact that I think I am hard to get to know and a little bit because I worry people won’t like me. But I swear to you, every time I got an email back from a friend on this little mission, I was slapped in the face with warmth and flattery. It was such a humbling experience. People do know me, guys! In the end I actually felt like crying because I realized how stupid I am and that I do have some really great relationships and there are people I can count on. (Again, this is not a judgement against my friends – I know I can count on them but you know how that is when you feel sad and alone and think impractically that there’s no one to call who will understand?)

One of my friends replied that I was obsessed with bracelets at the same time I posted this on Twitter. Amazing.

This was a perfect shot of self esteem. It made me feel loved in the best way.

These are my obsessions! And if I died tomorrow, would I be okay being remembered as a boy band fanatic who enjoyed the occasional decadent brunch, loved hockey and sexy male celebrities?

Hell yes. 

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